Saturday, August 7, 2010

Things We Lost In The Fire (2007)

"Hey pretty boy! Wah Wah Wah"

The story focuses on a happily married and very wealthy couple. Brian (David Duchovny) and his wife Audrey(Halle Berry) along with their two children spend everyday loving life and living it to its fullest. Brian puts his family first among all things but cherishes the past with keeping a childhood friendship alive with his best friend and avid heroine user Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), who leads a life of poverty downtown staying in a run down user infected apartment complex. Despite Audrey's feelings towards her husbands friendship Brian continues to check up on his friend. One night Brian is killed while trying to stop a domestic abuse in a parking lot leaving Audrey alone to take care of her children. Unable to deal with the bereavement alone and against better judgement she pulls Jerry out of his user lifestyle and offers him a place to stay. This is a constant battle for Jerry to stay clean but with the help of Audrey and her children Jerry learns that life is more than just getting high and attempts to lead a normal life and Audrey gets some piece of mind in finishing her loving husbands work.

Del Toro once again proves he is a force to be reckoned with creating a character that is so immersed in the world of drugs he disables himself from society. Truly a tour de force performance. Director Susanne Beir comes at this picture with a kind of survivalism and sureal look into users especially where no one is on screen except Del Toro, wether he is sober, alone, or using. I have never seen Halle Berry come at any role as she did here. While her past performances have somewhat campy and over the top she was perfectly cast and was born to play this part and this is the part she should have won an award for. Duchovny is his usual self, likable and charming, making a perfect husband to Berry's character. The chemistry between Del Toro and Duchovny is genuine, you really do feel that they have been friends since childhood and I'd like to see them in more films together. Overall this is a feel good movie and one of the best dramatic movies of 2007. But do to its content I strongly urge that this is not for children. 3.5/5 -tom